Sorry Day Speech: The Stolen Generations

Corinna Smithwick
Student number 18570342

The Stolen Generations
PowerPoint Presentation

I declare this assignment is my own work, it has not been submitted in any form for another unit, degree or diploma at any university or other institute of tertiary education. Information that I have used from published or unpublished work has been acknowledged with in text citations and referencing. All files and disks submitted have been checked for viruses and reported clean.

Due Date: 11 September, 2015

NOTES FOR POWERPOINT

All the art choices have a foundation in either Family, Stolen Generations, Sorry Day, I kept the art relational to the topic.

Cover page Art by Jacqui Stewart, Hope beyond the window. Relational to

We will give some closure to this topic by presenting Kevin Rudd’s Sorry Day speech.

History
We use the term “Stolen Generations”; because this practice didn’t affect just one generation of Aboriginals, but many generations (N. Government, 2011)
The Stolen Generations are the Aboriginal children that were removed by force and duress from their families, from the late 1800’s up until the mid 1970’s. These children were predominantly half-caste, light skinned Aboriginals (A. Government, 1997)
This practice happened nationwide, the children ranged in age from infant – 16yrs. They were sent to missions and institutions all over Australia, often far from their ancestral lands (Legislation, 1905)
They were removed because the policy of the time stated that they were ‘at risk’. Government Policy The Aborigines Act 1905 was ‘An Act to make provision for the better protection and care of the Aboriginal inhabitants of Western Australia.‘
In following years other states enacted Acts that had similar and far reaching

Daisy (slide) other testimonial. (Jensen, 2000)
Gregory:
I had never seen my mother in my life. My life in the Christian mission completely cut my ties to her. It did not even let me know who she was, let alone tell me if she missed me. I did not know that my mother was an Aboriginal mother.
Then they pointed to an Aboriginal woman and said, ‘That is your mother.’ And I went, ‘Oh-oh,’ I could not believe it. No one had prepared me to understand my past. ‘No,’ I said, ‘she’s not my mother, the skin is different, darker, black, not the right colour.’
It was a big shock, first time I ever see my mother.
I think it was a shock for her, too. She knew who we were. But she was really waiting to see what we gonna do.
I was fourteen years, I had to learn all my Aboriginal culture. I knew nothing. I didn’t know about Aboriginals. I didn’t know about the culture, colour of skin, nothing whatever. I had to really learn.
In fourteen years at the mission I had learned nothing about my own culture, I had been taught little in the white education matters. But we had to say grace before every meal, prayers at night, and attend Sunday School each week (Together,